Revitalizing Long Island’s Great South Bay

It’s our bay, our heritage — and our legacy. We grew up clamming it, sailing it, swimming in it. Now our bay is sick, and we must heal it, for today and for the future!

Save The Great South Bay is a local 501(c)3 non-profit that advocates for and implements real solutions that will help restore the bay, and with that, strengthen our South Shore communities.

Mayor’s Cup Charity Soirée
September 12 @ 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm at LIYC

Discover How You Can Help Save The Bay

Start With a Bay Friendly Yard

Go native! The suburban lawn is heavily reliant on fertilizers, pesticides, and huge amounts of water. It’s polluting, expensive, lifeless and tired. Choose a Bay Friendly Yard instead. Native plantings belong here. They are less expensive to maintain. They are beautiful — nature untouched. And they filter and clean the groundwater before it hits a creek or the bay.

Download our Bay Friendly Yard eBook with step-by-step instructions on assessing your yard, lists of native species that thrive here & tips on how to arrange these plantings.
Discover Native Bundles professionally designed for Long Island yards.
Proudly display your local stewardship by becoming a Certified Bay Friendly Yard.

Defending the South Shore’s Creeks Heals the Bay

Become a Creek Defender

By our count, there are 50 creeks flowing through 16 South Shore communities into The Great South Bay. The Creek Defender Program has a Defender in nearly every community — Massapequa, Copiague, Amityville, Lindenhurst, Babylon, Bay Shore, West Islip, Islip, East Islip, Great River/Oakdale, Sayville, Bayport, Bluepoint, Patchogue, Bellport and Brookhaven.

Each Defender coordinates with local schools, civic associations, and local businesses, organizing local cleanups and native plantings or “Swamp Forests” along the creeks. Plans for Creek Defender Day 2020 are in the works.

Remember: the bay is a symptom; it’s the mainland that’s sick. A lot of the pollution flowing into the bay is from our creeks — runoff from roads and lawns, pesticides and fertilizers, trash, and of course nitrogen from antiquated cesspools and septic tanks. By restoring native habitats, rebuilding green corridors, we can improve water quality in the creeks and therefore the bay. Click on the link below, tell us where you are from, and we will connect you with your Creek Defender!

JOIN THE CREEK DEFENDERS

The Race Is On To Save The Bay

Support Our Efforts

Saving The Bay will take all of us. By becoming a member, you will be helping us mobilize The South Shore so we can heal our bay for future generations. And of course, with your membership you will get some of our cool, locally designed apparel and merchandise too.

Join us at any (or all!) of our many events including get togethers on and near the Bay – 5K Run for the Bay (May), Cheers to the Bay! on the mainland & Fire Island (June-August), and the grand Mayor’s Cup Regatta & Clambake (September). We’ll also be partnering with Blue Island Oysters & Tres Palms for Oyster Fests in Fall 2020. Great local bands, local oysters, and our locally made bay-themed apparel, inspired by local artists. Our cause brings people from all The South Shore together. If you’re a local business owner, please consider becoming a sponsor to boost your brand while helping to revitalize The South Shore.

BECOME A MEMBER

Connecting scientists, environmentalists, municipalities, ….

Advocacy

Across our social media platforms, we give voice to those willing to speak truth to power, to those ready to speak for the bay. Muckrakers.

If you have a topic you’d like to write on – like the spraying of methoprene on our marshes, the Bethpage Plume, emerging contaminants, illegal dumping, coastal management policy, overdevelopment, etc, – please send your story pitch to [email protected]. Subscribe to our newsletter from our home page (in the site footer) and to our YouTube channel. It is up to us to speak for our bay.